An Ironman finish for the ages
In one of the closest finishes in Ironman history, Kirill Kotsegarov of Estonia edged Matt Chrabot by an official 2 seconds margin at Ironman Chattanooga. Stefan Schmid of Germany, who had been part of a thrilling three-man battle during the last few miles, surrendered near the end and took 3rd, 8 seconds behind the winner.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press dubbed it “the closest finish in Ironman history,” so the enthusiasm is understandable. But in point of fact, the 1990 Ironman New Zealand finish line sprint won by Pauli Kiuru of Finland over Ken Glah of the U.S. has it beat. Kiuru’s official margin of victory was 1 second and the distance was 1 meter. Ironman Chattanooga photos show the margin of victory was several meters.
The win was Kotsegarov’s second Ironman title after a 2009 Ironman Florida win, and topped his best recent efforts (3rd place finish at 2013 Ironman Lanzarote and 3rd at 2014 Ironman UK).
In a contest of a very different emotional temperature, Australian Carrie Lester broke 9 hours and eliminated all drama as she took her 6th Ironman-distance crown by a 12:46 minutes margin over Lisa Roberts the U.S. and 18:11 ahead of Kim Schwabenbauer of the U.S.
Men
In the current-aided point-to-point swim in the Tennessee River, Balazs Csoke of Hungary led the way in 40:48, followed by Eric Limkemann of the U.S. (+4s), Chrabot (+8s), Alberto Casadei of Italy (+10s), and contenders Ben Collins of the U.S. (+1:37), TJ Tollakson of the U.S. (+1:58), Stefan Schmid of Germany (+3:37), and Trevor Wurtele of Canada (+3:51).
On a course with 4,400 feet of climbing, the top cyclists rode to the lead. By 18 miles, Tollakson worked his way to the front of a 6-man pack that included Limkemann, Collins, Csoke, Casadei, and Chrabot. By 49 miles, Limkemann led a three-man break including Tollakson and Chrabot within 3 and 8 seconds, respectively. Just under 3 minutes back were Karl-Johanm Danielsson of Sweden, Kotsegarov, Wurtele, Schmid, Alberto Casadei of Italy, Allan Steen Olesen of Denmark, Thomas Gerlach of the U.S., and Esben Hovgaard of Denmark.
By 96 miles, Limkemann broke away to a 16-seconds lead on Tollakson, 45 seconds on Chrabot, 1:32 to 1:34 on Danielsson, Schmid and Kotsegarov, and about 3 minutes on Gerlach, Wurtele, Hovgaard, and Collins. After a 5th-best 4:29:52 bike split, Limkemann arrived first at T2 with a 1:30 to 1:48 lead on Danielsson, Schmid (race-best 4:27:32 bike split), Kotsegarov, Tollakson, and Chrabot.
After 4.5 miles of the run, Limkemann zealously guarded his lead, maintaining a 1:23 margin on Schmid, 2:02 on Chrabot, 2:11 on Tollakson, and 2:39 on Kotsegarov. Halfway through the marathon, Chrabot charged to a 1 second lead on Limkemann, 1:37 on Kotsegarov, 2:07 on Schmid, and the rest more than 5 minutes arrears.
Through 17 miles, Ironman rookie Chrabot expanded his lead to 1:33 on Limkemann, 2:21 on Schmid, and 2:20 on Kotsegarov. But by 23 miles, Chrabot endured a spell of walking and was hanging on by a thinning thread, with Kotsegarov and Schmid running shoulder to shoulder 17 seconds behind. At 24 miles, Kotsegarov took the lead, with Schmid 6 seconds back and Chrabot 9 seconds back in 3rd.
With a mile to go, all three were running together until they hit the finish chute whereupon Schmid fell 20 meters back and the Estonian and the American gave their last, best ounces of energy to the line.
Exhilarated by the win, Kotsegarov stood tall with the tape in his hands while Chrabot collapsed on the carpet, joined soon by Schmid.
Women
New Zealand native and Chattanooga resident Anna Cleaver led the women's swim in 42:49, with an 8 seconds lead on Christina Jackson of the U.S., and 1:39 to 1:41 on U.S. triathletes Katy Blakemore, Darbi Roberts and Kathryn Thomas. Top contenders Lester (+1:47) and Bree Wee of the U.S. (+2:57) were within feasible range.
But Lester, coming into this contest after a 4th at Wildflower and a 2nd place at Challenge Roth, was patiently stalking leaders Cleaver and Christina Jackson, and took over at mile 28. By the end of a women's-best 5:01:16 bike split over the challenging, hilly bike course, Lester carved out a 7:09 lead on Wee (2nd-best 5:07:02 bike split), 7:36 on Cleaver, 9:49 on Jackson, 14:45 on talented runner Kim Schwabenbauer, and 16:16 on Lisa Robert.
By 15 miles, Lester created a 15 minutes lead on Roberts and 15:31 on Schwabenbauer, and could easily cruise to the finish. After her women’s 3nd-best 3:05:05 run, Lester finished in 8:56:00 with a 12:46 margin on Roberts (3:01:04 marathon), and 18:11 on Schwabenbauer (3:08:28 run). Kristin Moeller of Germany made up for a 52:02 swim and 5:22:41 bike split with a women’s 2nd-best 3:01:15 run to finish 6th.
Ironman Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
September 27, 2015
S 2.4 mi. / B 116 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Kirill Kotsegarov (EST) 8:08:32
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 8:08:34
3. Stefan Schmid (GER) 8:08:40
4. Eric Limkemann (USA) 8:12:59
5. Esben Hovgaard (DNK) 8:15:56
6. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 8:18:06
7. Matt Russell (USA) 8:20:37
8. Darby Thomas (FIN) 8:21:44
9. TJ Tollakson (USA) 8:21:48
10. Thomas Gerlach (USA) 8:21:54
Women
1. Carrie Lester (AUS) 8:56:00
2. Lisa Roberts (USA) 9:08:46
3. Kim Schwabenbauer (USA) 9:14:11
4. Bianca Steurer (AUT) 9:18:17
5. Bree Wee (USA) 9:19:41
6. Kristin Moeller (GER) 9:21:37
7. Kelly Fillnow (USA) 9:23:09
8. Kirsty Jahn (CAN) 9:24:40
9. Karina Ottesen (DNK) 9:28:02
10. Sofie Goos (BEL) 9:31:52
